Extractive desulfurization of thiophene by tetraethylene glycol at T = 298.15 to 313.15 K and liquid–liquid phase equilibrium study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study provides the complete liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) data including the solubility curves and tie-lines for heptane + thiophene + tetraethylene glycol and cyclohexane + thiophene + tetraethylene glycol ternary mixtures at 298.15–313.15 K under a pressure of 83.4 ± 1 kPa. The experimental data were obtained by the cloud point method. Type 1 phase behavior is observed for the systems. The observed behavior was interpreted based on the type and nature of the interactions between the components. The capability of tetraethylene glycol in extractive desulfurization of thiophene from liquid fuel is evaluated by determining the solute distribution coefficient and selectivity. The high values of the selectivity show that tetraethylene glycol is a good candidate for this purpose. The investigation of the effect of temperature on the area of the biphasic region and distribution ratios shows that the extraction process can be performed at room temperature. The experimental data were successfully correlated with the NRTL model. The reliability of the correlation results was checked by using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the representation of Gibbs energy of mixing (GM). The root mean square deviation (RMSD), a measure of the precision of the correlations, ranges from 0.0022 to 0.0040.